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Giveaway: What’s the Worst Holiday Gift You Ever Received?

Remember Ralphie’s stunning bunny ensemble in A Christmas Story? The look on his face says it all—Christmas gifts are not created equal. In fact, sometimes they can be truly bad.

Let’s start this week off with a bit of holiday humor, shall we? We’ve got a fantastic giveaway celebrating the truly awful gift choices that sometimes find their way underneath our Christmas trees. It seems that most people have a great story to tell about their holiday misfortune, so now is the time to speak up. We’re seeking to restore some balance in the Universe by granting three fabulous Mrs. Fields gifts to three readers who received the worst holiday gifts ever.

Do you have the story it takes to win? Leave a comment answering this question: What’s the worst holiday gift you ever received? Comments will be accepted until midnight, Sunday, December 16. Winners will be chosen and notified via email. One entry per person, please.

58 Responses

The worst gift I ever had gotten was a pair of knicker pants in 8th grade and my mom made me wear them.. it wasn’t pleasant, lol 🙂

Kelly SperberDecember 10, 2012 at 8:04 am

I think the worst Christmas present I ever received was a large, industrial size case of toilet paper. My husband and I had just bought a big, new house with lots of storage. We had previously lived in a small apartment where I constantly complained I could never “stock up” on items because we had no space. After buying our home my dad and his wife grabbed the opportunity to give us the most practical gift they could think of. TP. We opened it and said, “Um… Thanks?” It was very awkward. On a side note, this was the same year that my mom gave me fire extinguishers for Christmas for the new house. I don’t want to sound ungrateful because both the TP and the fire extinguishers were actually items that we needed and used (small toaster fire) and I know it’s not the gift but the thought that counts. But, it makes me wonder… What WERE my parents actual thoughts that year? Tushy wiping and me burning my house down? Merry Christmas!!!

Amber PreerDecember 10, 2012 at 8:15 am

The worst Christmas gift that I ever received was a dress that was so ugly it is still hanging in my closet with the tag on it. It was the ugliest dress that I had ever seen in my life.

jazmin m.December 10, 2012 at 8:48 am

The worst gift i have ever received was a pj pants that had a hole in them.

CourtneyDecember 10, 2012 at 8:51 am

The worst gift I’ve ever received in my entire 30 yrs. was a sweater that’s sleeves were uneven. Put that thing on and the stitching was almost by my neck on one side and by my shoulder on the other.

Jennifer J.December 10, 2012 at 9:26 am

The worst gift was a pair of boxers (supposedly for girls) from my aunt when I was about 16, in front of my whole family! Not sure where she was going with that gift but it was very embarrassing!

Debbie NDecember 10, 2012 at 11:14 am

The worst gift I have received is from my husband. We have been married 20 years now but the 1st Christmas we were together we gave me 2 tickets to a boxing match that was at the local casino here in town. He also stuck in 50.00 bill to do some slots. i HATE boxing. he LOVES boxing. He has since learned to not give me something HE wants lol

Mari TophamDecember 10, 2012 at 1:14 pm

At our baby shower, we were given a gift, specially wrapped in a Walmart bag: two very used baby pajamas, (one had mustard baby poop stains on the back) and a set of “teething” baby toys from at least 10 years earlier. I don’t mind used gifts, but these were in horrible condition and given from the “wealthiest” family member at our shower. I thought it was a gag gift, but it wasn’t! My cousins still give me grief over it!

MichaelDecember 10, 2012 at 1:53 pm

I once received a used foosball table with missing parts, but only found this out after spending about 1 hour setting it up.

martha cruzDecember 10, 2012 at 1:53 pm

the worst gift i ever got was from my parents back in the mid 70’s . they gave me 8-track tapes of songs from the 50’s i wasn’t born till 1960. so lame 50’s music just was not for me

Alicia GrayDecember 10, 2012 at 1:53 pm

The worst gift that I ever received was a giftcard to a steakhouse…..I’m a vegetarian ha, ha, ha!!!

Travis ColeDecember 10, 2012 at 1:54 pm

My 2nd wife left me every single holiday but a few days later she came back.

Don FaldsDecember 10, 2012 at 1:55 pm

The worst gift I got was a Chia Pet at age 9 years old. I didn’t even know how to plant anything at that age, I think the Chia pet didn’t last that long under my care and it was thrown in the garbage.

LucyDecember 10, 2012 at 1:55 pm

My worst Christmas gift was baked by a friend. She decided to make these snicker-doodle cookies with applesauce instead of sugar. She made them & put them in a nice tin. When I opened them I almost got sick. They had fermented! She put them in while warm and they were all damp & gross. She was so embarrassed. She did buy me a replacement gift. I told her to get rid of that recipe!

The worst gift I ever got was used brass cat bookends, from my in-laws. :/ They were used by my husbands mom and dad, then put away for MANY years, lol. (they keep everything, ha) I have nothing against re-using items, but this really hurt my feelings. It was like thrown in a bag, with no thought whatsoever. They knew I liked cats, so…. Of course they gave my husband that year many gifts of books, models (his hobby) …etc. I can laugh about it now, and their gift giving has got much better thru the years, and I love them dearly. 🙂

Tiffany KinardDecember 10, 2012 at 2:02 pm

It’s a toss up..My mom got me the ugliest dress that was supposed to be like a Navy blue sailor dress and it was SO ugly,but she thought it was adorable.Of course I just HAD to try it on and show her.Well,she thought it looked absolutely precious and my aunt is sitting on the couch cracking up laughing while I’m standing there about to die.I wore it to make her happy though.

The second was a couple of Christmases ago,I got the most horrendous looking pig cookie jar from my in-laws.I don’t know who would’ve ever thought it was cute! I was wearing some kind of overall dress..it was just weird,lol.

JD HarmonDecember 10, 2012 at 2:06 pm

My inlaws bought me and my wife a plot in a cemetary next to theirs. We both knew they were thinking of the future and wanting us all to be buried at the same location…BUT…still the worse Christmas gift ever!!!!!

Christie RDecember 10, 2012 at 2:12 pm

The worst gift I got was a pair of gaudy, plastic costume jewelry earrings. They were gold colored with a cloudy pink stone in the middle. The gold started flaking off immediately!

Oanh H.December 10, 2012 at 2:14 pm

The worst present I ever got was a fruit cake. While fruit cake is a festive food item for the holidays, it’s really not a treat.

Colleen FullerDecember 10, 2012 at 2:16 pm

The worst Christmas present I received made me cry! I received a diet book for hypo thyroid people when I was not even over weight. I have still never read the book and my thyroid is now in check! Thank you Mrs. Fields!

Lori CDecember 10, 2012 at 2:17 pm

The worst gift I ever received was a previously-used George Foreman grill. The cooked-on residue was a bonus gift! 🙂

Violeta GillDecember 10, 2012 at 2:22 pm

The worst Present I have ever got was when I was 16 and my friend and I went to visit her aunt at her Jewelry shop. We were there for awhile and her aunt who was very nice gave us a wrapped gift each. Well on the way back home I opened mine and it was a Men’s cologne set!!! I am woman not a man! LOL I ended up giving it to my dad but that was very weird!!!

LeslieDecember 10, 2012 at 2:30 pm

The worst gift I received was a bottle of lotion from the dollar store that smelled Nice but ended up giving me a whole body rash and pimples in spots I never had pimples before.. It drove me crazy I constantly itched my skin for about a week & looked like a monster. The thought was Nice, I never told my friend what happened I knew she didn’t have much money and I could tell she picked a scent I’d enjoy. Now I do a spot check with brands I’ve never tried before…

Tamra CliffordDecember 10, 2012 at 2:34 pm

The worst gift I received was my Mom bought me a jacket like hers , it was not my style or size for that matter. I had told her hers looked nice on her so she decided to get me one.

C. LOHRKEDecember 10, 2012 at 2:47 pm

Worst gift I received was a 20″ tall, grey, concrete-like gargoyle, I thought it was t.h.e. ugliest thing I’ve every seen- just not me at all. LOL, I regifted to someone who likes yardart – he liked the gargoyle and several years later it is still on display in his backyard — he also got several more so the gargoyle has buddies. haha. I still think its ugly each time I see it!

Valerie C.December 10, 2012 at 3:01 pm

My mother-in-law gave me a photo of herself at age 25 in an ornate frame. When I opened it she exclaimed, “I’ll bet you wish you looked like that at 25!” I was speechless….lol

Troy C.December 10, 2012 at 3:03 pm

a restaurant gift card to a place that had closed down

Karen SuDecember 10, 2012 at 3:07 pm

the worst holiday gift i’ve ever received?

probably from my current employer as my year-end bonus.
it was a card with a redemption code for a cheap windbreaker jacket or a fake leather jacket with the company’s logo on it.

least to say, i was not impressed.

KayDecember 10, 2012 at 3:07 pm

The worse Christmas I had was when I was 12. EVERYTHING I got that year was either defective, broke or didn’t fit. Gloomy day for sure. Spent the whole next day in one line or other trying to exchange or find something to replace it with. Did you know there wasn’t much to be found way back then the day AFTER Christmas?

Barbara MayesDecember 10, 2012 at 3:08 pm

The worst gift I ever got was last Christmas, from, of all people, my husband. A $30 gift card to buy shoes..and I couldn’t use it online. I still have it. Boo! : (

Chelsea PlevinskiDecember 10, 2012 at 3:09 pm

Oh, so many gifts from my ex-husband’s grandma! One Christmas, she gave me her old Christmas shoes…yes, that’s right, slip on shoes that were black and had Christmas trees on them…a half size too small! The next year she gave us 10 cans of tuna and a HUGE jar of peanut butter because my ex liked sandwiches! LOL! Every year just got worse!

TiaDecember 10, 2012 at 3:18 pm

I had a friend who was upset because she didn’t like a gift that she received. It was a sweater that she described as ugly. When I saw her she gave me a box with that sweater in it.

ConnieDecember 10, 2012 at 3:51 pm

The worst gift I ever received was from my Dad some years ago. He brought my husband and me a toilet for Christmas! I was so excited to open the box because it was so big and wrapped so nice, but was shocked to find a toilet inside. Not only that, he brought a matching little motion-activated toilet soap dispenser that talked to go with it. It nearly gave me a heart attack on Christmas morning when I turned the light on to go into to the bathroom when a loud voice told me ” don’t forget to wash your hands”. I ran screaming out of the bathroom, while my dad sat there laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.

Rise IsomDecember 10, 2012 at 3:56 pm

When I was in 3rd grade my Sunday School Teacher gave me a perfume cream set of dried up cream in old tins. ( I know now she probably regifted a gift she got years before) She was also a school teacher.

My sister-in-law once gave me a tiny clock she got free for signing up with AARP; it said it right on the clock. My husband, on the other hand, received a large Revolutionary War chess set.

Lynn KDecember 10, 2012 at 5:58 pm

My worst gift… A training bra, wrapped up with a big bow left under the Christmas tree, to open gift in front of the whole family and friends. I was only a preteen with no girls yet at the time, leaving me the only thing to do after my big sisters laughed at me, was to throw the box across the room and run into to my bedroom to hide crying. Today teens want Victoria Secret before they can even fit into it, then, teens were cute, not sexy, and easily embarrassed.

I think the worst Christmas present that I have ever received was when I was about 13 or 14. My grandma, who didn’t really know what a teenager would like, went out and bought be this really big baby blue fluffy pillow that had a sewed on picture of Dora the Explorer. So I ended up mailing it to my little cousin and she was just thrilled!

NoelDecember 11, 2012 at 3:26 am

My husband gave me Spanx last Christmas, needless to say he is now my ex 🙂

Jenny DivalicousDecember 11, 2012 at 3:58 am

What’s the worst holiday gift you ever received?
The worst holiday gift I ever received would have to be a used lip gloss set. It had stains on the applicaters as tho they were worn before it was nasty lol

NicoleDecember 11, 2012 at 10:31 am

In 9th grade, my parents got me a graphing calculator (no joke). It wasn’t even a TI-83, but the lamer, boxier, TI-82 [/nerdterp]. I guess I didn’t really ask for much that year, and so my parents tried to justify spending all this money on something I was going to need in math my sophmore year, 9 months earlier. I was pretty sad that day, but it taught me two things:
1. One, your Christmas list can never be long enough and
2. (x-a)^2 + (y-b)^2 = r^2 forms a sweet circle

Kellie Rose WilsonDecember 11, 2012 at 9:07 pm

A beer stein in the shape of a bass! lol

MarcieDecember 12, 2012 at 4:05 am

My dear sweet Nana used to send me a pair of pink booties every year…while I kept each pair and look back on them fondly, I never wore them since she wasn’t a very good knitter but always appreciated the gesture.

Gaile GrayDecember 12, 2012 at 3:37 pm

The worst gift I can recall is the one my beloved great-grandmother gave me. It’s a little embarrassing, but… she decided to get me a “training bra.” When I was years past that stage. 🙂

Ellen LewDecember 12, 2012 at 5:19 pm

The worst holiday gift I ever received was a dozen black roses from a friend. She knew that I love roses and I probably should have stated earlier that black roses represent death and red roses for happier moments. Oh well, I thanked her for the gift and it was the thought that counts and I should have known better because she has always has wierd ideas.

Mandy BlankDecember 13, 2012 at 12:37 pm

An epilady from my mother-in-law.

WillDecember 13, 2012 at 5:45 pm

My wife gave me a gift certificate for waxing at the local spa. I used it for a massage instead so I was able to turn it around!

StefanieDecember 14, 2012 at 2:51 pm

The worst holiday gift I received was last year from a friend at work. She gave me a gift card for free mail order steaks. To most people this would be a dream, but I’m a vegetarian so it was definitely a present that is something I would never use and wasn’t a great treat at all.

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[…] There was a bit of a tussle last night between the Warriors and Clippers. Whatever. Steph Curry in a sleeved jersey looks like he’s floppy ears and footies away from being Ralphie from a Christmas Story. […]

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